ICCVE: Rail Transportation & Communications

Former US Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta opened the session on Rail Transportation and Communications at the International Conference on Connected Vehicles and Expo (ICCVE), held December 12 through December 16 in Beijing, this morning with a fast-paced review of rail transportation in the US from their earliest beginnings to the establishment of the first transcontinental railroad more than 140 years ago.

Incidentally, he pointed out to the crowd here that it was Chinese laborers who were instrumental in the construction of that line. Positive Train Control, mandated by the Rail Safety Improvement Act (RSIA), passed by the US Congress in 2008, is the application of many technologies to help dramatically improve rail safety in the US. Mr. Mineta believes that there is a vibrant future for passenger transportation by rail, especially high-speed rail, so long as it is efficient, safe, and tailored to the needs of the passenger.

After Mr. Mineta's opening remarks, Jon Adams (that's me), chairman of the IEEE 802.15.4p Task Group for Positive Train Control communications, walked the audience through a brief history of rail communications and signaling systems and the continuous improvements that have been made in the nearly 200 years since the first train rolled on a track. Worldwide, rail transportation continues to grow, meeting the needs for cost-efficient freight transport and increasingly finding opportunity in inter-city public transportation as a viable competition to crowded air lanes and interminable security lines. The IEEE 802.15.4p standard will bring with it the ability to tie together rail and rail transit communications, improved infrastructure monitoring for safety and security, and to ultimately bring a convergence between the various wireless communications systems for connected vehicles.

Next up was Mr. Ming Zhou, CTO of service provider technical operations for Cisco China. His theme included a merger of the Internet of Things with the universe of Connected Vehicles. As more and more vehicles are on the highways and on rail, the need for remote sensing, infrastructure monitoring, and inter-communications between these nodes grows geometrically. These communications are important for passenger safety, transport efficiency, and better use of scarce resources. The challenge he outlined was how to route the information between the many sources and the many destinations. The connected vehicle is an ideal environment for IEEE communications technologies and IP (Internet Protocol), which have created the Internet and are now beginning to power the Internet of Things.

One obvious takeaway from the morning session was that in the world of transportation, the role of the engineer as a force for innovation has never been greater and the opportunities have never been more challenging than today.

— Jon Adams is vice president strategic development for Lilee Systems. He holds BSE and MSEE degrees from UCLA and is a senior member of the IEEE.

The train safety topic has always interested me. After a horrific crash here in DC on the metro a few years back a thought occurred to me why there could not be a system where a sensor laden light vehicle could run ahead of a train to alert it to bad track, obstacles, hazards ahead and could even take the brunt of a collision before the rolling stock got there. I even did a patent search and found a European patent already exists for almost what I had in mind. See EP1037788 A1. This idea may be off the wall but as an engineering manager this sure would be a great project to manage.

Jon, thank you for your viewpoint from the conference. I wish I could be there.

Communication technologies are key to improving so many areas of our lives. Making transportation safer is a very important goal. Ensuring the safety of rail transport is a great goal as well. Some of those trains, especially in Southern Europe, were kind of slow, but it was a very flexible way for me to get around.

In my teens I have the opportunity to tour Eurpoe by train. It was a wild ride, but I could get from city to city easily. This encouraged me to try to live without a car for a time. It did not really work for me, so I finally got a car. I am not sure that was a good thing.

Several years back I lived in the UK for a few years. I took trains all over the UK. We also had cars, but many trips were fun on the train. For my work I often went from the UK to Paris. I took the Eurostar, and it was wonderful. I never drove in Paris, and never would.

In the US, when I lived in the East Coast, I often took the train between Washington, DC, Philadelphia and New York City. This was great, and I would ride the Metro Club most of the time. This was a much more civilized way of getting between those cities than driving.

They are talking about some high speed lines here in Illonis and the surrounding states. I take the train sometimes to Springfield or Detroit. It is much easier and cheaper.

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The word “smart” is becoming the dumbest word around. It has been applied to almost every device and system in our homes. In addition to smartphones and smart meters, we now hear about smart clothing and smart shoes, smart lights, smart homes, smart buildings, and every trendy city today has its smart city project. Just because it has a computer inside and is connected to the Web, does not mean it is smart.

Was Steve Job’s signature outfit of a black turtleneck, jeans, and sneakers the secret behind his success? Maybe, or maybe not, but it was likely an indication of a decision-making philosophy that enabled him to become one of the most successful innovators of all time.

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